Policies and Procedures

For Applicants

Admissions Policy

To review the Admissions Policy as approved by Academic Council and the Lakehead and Laurentian University Senates please refer to the Admissions Policy document.

Essential Skills and Abilities Required for Entry to a Medical Degree Program

To fulfill the MD Program requirements, and avoid serious risk to the health and safety of patients, you must acquire competency in a wide range of knowledge, skills, and abilities. Students in medicine must be able to communicate with patients and colleagues, make observations about patients, gather information, and analyze data in order to arrive at medical judgments.

If you require accommodation to undertake the Medical Program at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, we advise you to review the Council of Ontario Faculties of Medicine policy: Essential Skills and Abilities Required for Entry to a Medical Degree Program.

If you require accommodation for the medical program, please contact the Office of Admissions & Learner Recruitment at admissions@nosm.ca.

Falsification of Application Information

If it is discovered that any application information is false or misleading, or that information has been concealed or withheld, the application will be disqualified; or, if discovered after an offer of admission has been sent, that offer will be withdrawn. If these circumstances are discovered after the student has been admitted into the Medical Program, the student will be required to withdraw from the Program. An applicant so discovered will be barred from applying to the Northern Ontario School of Medicine for five years. Other medical school admissions committees will be notified of the nature of the offence and the name of the applicant.

Deferrals

The Northern Ontario School of Medicine does not generally grant deferrals of admission, though it will consider deferrals in exceptional circumstances. Requests are received through the Office of Admissions and are forwarded to the Deferrals Committee for consideration. Decisions of the committee are final and not open to appeal by the candidate.

Police Information Check

Throughout your medical school program, you will serve vulnerable populations. In an effort to protect these vulnerable people against potential risk of harm, the Ontario Faculties of Medicine and many clinical agencies require that you provide confirmation of the absence of a criminal conviction or outstanding criminal charges.

You are required to complete and submit the results of your Police Information Check, including a Vulnerable Sector Screening, at your own expense.

At the beginning of each subsequent academic year in the MD program, you will be required to sign a Criminal Records and Disclosure form to confirm that there has been no change in the information contained in the Police Information Check.

Your offer of admission is contingent upon provision of these checks. We will review any files presented with a “Not Clear” check to determine what action, if any, will be taken.

For more information about obtaining a Police Information Check with a Vulnerable Sector Screening, contact your local police agency.

Immunization/Health Screening

All incoming students must complete the Year 1 NOSM Undergraduate Immunization Form. NOSM’s screening requirements meet the current OHA/OMA Communicable Disease Surveillance Protocol for Ontario Hospitals, in accordance with Regulation 965, Section 4, of the Public Hospitals Act RSO 1990. We will send more details about health regulations in the offer of admission to the program.

Failure to comply with this requirement may result in students being denied access to clinical settings.

For more information refer to the Council of Ontario Faculties of Medicine (COFM) Immunization Policy document.